What’s Analysis Paralysis

And how you can overcome it

Day 101 / 365

I once had this idea of putting up posters with some of the best song lyrics that I have heard. It seemed like a simple idea at first, but as I went about planning to execute it, it just got more and more complicated. I first browsed Pinterest to see if someone else might have done it. Questions came to my head one after the other. How do I make the posters? should I learn photoshop and design the posters my self?

How do I put them up on the wall? will tape damage the wall? This last thought leads me to a youtube video marathon of people comparing the pros and cons of different options of putting up posters on a wall.

This was about 3 years ago. I still like the idea, but I have never gotten around to do it. The thought of all the thinking I need to do for such a simple task puts me off.

I’m sure you will all relate to it. We all have troubles making decisions. With all this information available to us right now, thanks to the internet, it seems impossible for us to make up our minds. We are afraid to be wrong. So we want to make sure we cover each and every detail before making our choice.

How I try to avoid Analysis Paralysis

More recently the analysis that has been stressing me out is this very blog. Every day I go through a list of possible topics that I keep. I go through Reddit, Ted, to find what’s the best topic to write for that day. I have more incomplete drafts here than I have published articles.

What has helped me with this is actually a common tactic to avoid Analysis Paralysis — Choose a deadline for your decision making. For me, it’s before I get home from work. I have all day to do as much analysis I want, explore as many topics. But before I leave work, I stop all the thinking and pick any topic that looks good.

Our brains are hungry for information. So they won’t stop. And our primary source of information is the Internet, and it’s famous for having false information. It’s a lost cause from the start. So you need to put your foot down and put a stop to all this thinking.

Stop overthinking and start doing. Get shit done.

This post is part of my 365 Day Project for 2019. Read about it here

Yesterday’s blog —It’s never too late to start